CNS STORY: Pope urges countries to join efforts in helping migrants, refugees

POPE-MIGRATION May-28-2010 (280 words) xxxi

Pope urges countries to join efforts in helping migrants, refugees

By Carol Glatz
Catholic News Service

VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- With no sign that globalization and migration will slow down, the future of most societies clearly depends on effectively welcoming and integrating migrants and refugees, Pope Benedict XVI said.

"The future of our societies rests on the encounter between peoples (and) on dialogue between cultures with respect for identities and legitimate differences," the pope said May 28 during a meeting with participants in the plenary assembly of the Pontifical Council for Migrants and Travelers.

The assembly focused on the shared responsibilities nations and international organizations have toward travelers, migrants and refugees.

Pope Benedict praised the efforts of organizations and international bodies to build a world marked by peace, fraternity and cooperation while simultaneously striving "to resolve the crucial questions of security and development to the benefit of all."

But some parts of the world have been avoiding "the assumption of responsibilities that should be shared" when it comes to migration policies and assisting refugees, he said.

"The desire of many people to knock down walls that divide and to establish broad-based agreements promoting integration has still not been fulfilled," he said.

Some of the ways states and organizations can promote social stability and harmony, he said, are by creating policies or plans that help welcome and integrate foreigners, give them "opportunities to obtain legal status, promoting the fair rights to family reunification, asylum and refugee status, compensating for necessary restrictive measures and opposing the appalling trafficking of human beings."

The pope said migration policies that recognize the key importance of the family and its stability are an essential part of respecting the rights of migrants and promoting their integration in a new country.

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